U.S. wins carriage beauty pageant

Chester Weber, who will be driving his horses for the United States team in the combined driving competition, won the presentation beauty pageant for the driving teams Wednesday.

In the presentation, which does not count toward the final competition awards, virtually every inch of the carriage, driver and horses is under scrutiny in the concours d'elegance-type competition for best turned-out rig. Judges look at everything from the cleanliness of the four horses to the spare horseshoes, whip and harness hardware, right down to the monogrammed blinkers.

It was an American sweep of the top three, with eight-time U.S. national driving champion Weber wearing a gray top hat to signify that he owns the horses he is driving. James Fairclough took second and Tucker Johnson was third.

Grooms have to work for about 10 hours to get the harness and carriage cleaned, polished and prepared. The combined driving medal competition begins Thursday with driven dressage.

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